Qatar: A year of isolation

Qatar completed yesterday the first year of the diplomatic boycott imposed on it by four Arab countries over its support of terrorism and rapprochement with Iran in a manner that harms its neighbors. Throughout that year, Qatar did not cease its attempts to restore some sense of normalcy.

It tried everything over the table and under the table through legal and illegal means. It sought to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough with the four countries. It tried to use money to pressure the West. It bought the allegiance of several figures inside and outside its borders to promote lies and rumors.

Today is June 5, 2018 and nothing has changed. Qatar is still where it started. All it did was create more isolation for itself. No one can predict when its crisis will end.

Are there signs of an imminent solution? There is no doubt that politics has taught us that surprises cannot be ruled out and nothing is completely final. I, however, do not see any signs for a possible settlement, at least not for the next year. This is not pessimism, but rather a reflection of Qatar’s exposed diplomacy that does not deserve much attention and analysis.

Let us recount what Qatar has done to tackle its crisis. It first resorted to money, then money and later, even more money. This is what it is good at. It believes that wealth alone can end its isolation or ease its suffering.

For example, Doha purchased Paris’ neutrality when it signed a deal, worth 14 billion dollars, with President Emmanuel Macron at the end of 2017. After that, Macron no longer criticized Qatar over its terrorism funding as he had did during his presidential electoral campaign.

Qatar may have spent some $40 billion on major military deals during a single year, but it has practically grown weaker militarily, politically and diplomatically than what it was before June 5, 2017

Salman al-Dosary

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What about the United States? It struck a deal with it to acquire F-15 jets worth $12 billion. In Britain, its shopping cart included Typhoon jets worth $6 billion. In the Italian bazaar, it struck a deal to buy seven military ships worth $6 billion. In Germany, it purchased 62 Leopard 2 tanks worth 2 billion euros. We must also not forget the negotiations with Russia over the S-400 missile air defense system.

It is interesting to point out what Russian military expert Viktor Murakhovsky said about Qatar. He noted that any weapons deal does not have a practical purpose, but a political one. “This rich country can buy the S-400 system simply to improve ties with Russia,” he remarked.

Qatar may have spent some $40 billion on major military deals during a single year, but it has practically grown weaker militarily, politically and diplomatically than what it was before June 5, 2017. It is in an unenviable position, even as it frantically piles up the military deals. More importantly, no one knows whether all the weapons, rockets and jets Qatar is collecting can actually fit in its territories.

After a year of isolation, Qatar’s defense minister is entitled to say that his country will not allow its territories to be used for a potential American strike against Iran. The whole world can laugh at this because it knows that if Washington wanted to go through with the strike, it will not pause to wait for Qatar’s permission.

After a year living in crisis, Qatar has the right to “protect the safety of its consumers” by announcing a ban on the import of all products made in the four Arab countries. It also has the right to import food products from other countries, such as Turkey, Morocco and Iran, even as it claims that it is being “besieged.”

At the same time, the four Arab countries have the right to practice their sovereignty and take a firm stance against this country, even if the boycott lasted for the next ten years. Qatar is entitled to many of the things it does, practices and says. Its major problem though is that nothing it does, practices or says can break its isolation.

This article was first published here.________________________Salman Aldosary is the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. He tweets @SalmanAldosary.